Stars are just like us.
Before becoming famous, Nicki Minaj, Anna Nicole Smith and more worked everyday jobs at one of America’s biggest chain restaurants.
The rapper worked at a number of locations, while Smith worked at Red Lobster as a young mom when she first welcomed her son, Daniel, when she was 19 years old.
LONGEST-RUNNING RED LOBSTER LOCATION IN AMERICA IS CLOSING AFTER 56 YEARS
Damola Adamolekun, the youngest CEO the chain restaurant has ever seen at 37 years old, acknowledges the company’s storied history with celebrity, and has been talking up the brand since taking over.
“People just really care about this brand. It has a deep legacy and a deep meaning to people.” he told Vanity Fair in June, adding, “I like that I’m giving people a different sort of role model—a different path for people that they might not be aware of otherwise.”
Here are some of the biggest names who once worked at Red Lobster.
Nicki Minaj had experience as a waitress prior to making it big as a record-setting female rapper.
During an appearance on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon,” she spoke about her time working at Red Lobster as a waitress, saying “I probably waited on people in this audience for a matter of fact,” adding, “If you’ve ever eaten at Red Lobster, I probably took your order.”
“That’s what made me wanna hurry up and follow my dream, because I was like, ‘Oh my God, this is not for me. I gotta hurry up and get out of here before it’s too late,'” Minaj said about working at the chain restaurant.
She went on to find success with her debut album, “Pink Friday,” which featured one of her biggest songs of all time, “Super Bass.” This led to record-breaking success, as she became the best-selling female rapper of all time, selling over 100 million records worldwide.
Anna Nicole Smith once chose to work at Red Lobster to support herself and her son, Daniel.
In an interview with Daily Mail in February 2017, Smith’s mother, Virgie Arthur, shared that her daughter once worked at the popular chain restaurant before quitting to work as an exotic dancer at the Executive Suite.
She recalled going into the Executive Suite one night and finding Smith dancing for a man, telling her, “You’re not going to do that kind of work. You’re supposed to be working at Red Lobster.”
“She said, ‘Momma, I know you don’t understand this but I work at Red Lobster all night long and my back and my feet are killing me,’” Arthur told the outlet. “‘I can go work at the Executive Suite one night and make $1,000 dollars.’”
In 1991, while dancing at another local club, Smith met billionaire oil tycoon J. Howard Marshall. With his support, she was able to quit dancing and began modeling — she never looked back.
Chris Rock spent his teenage years working at Red Lobster in New York.
The actor and comedian spoke about his time working at the restaurant after dropping out of high school in the 10th grade during his 2008 HBO comedy special, “Kill the Messenger,” saying he “used to scrape shrimp into the garbage can and then load up the dishwasher.”
“I never got a raise, I never got a promotion,” he said. “They kept me in the back because I had really f—ed-up teeth, and they didn’t want people to think that shrimp f—ed up your teeth.”
He went on to say that the job “killed me,” but says he has been “blessed” and has a successful career. He got his start doing stand-up as a teenager, later landing a spot on the cast of “Saturday Night Live.” He established himself as a comedian with numerous specials, which earned him many Emmy Awards. He has also had a successful movie career.
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Jonathan Majors had “a crazy journey” on the way to finding success as an actor.
The Marvel actor opened up about his experience working at Red Lobster when he was a teen during his opening monologue for “Saturday Night Live,” which he hosted in 2021, sharing that he worked there to support himself while he was “homeless.”
“I lived in my car, working at Red Lobster and Olive Garden, but you know what I learned from that experience? You know what I learned? That Red Lobster and Olive Garden are owned by the same parent company, so you can work at both places with no problem,” he joked.
He then pointed out that many stars started their careers at the restaurant, joking, “I don’t know what they’re putting in those cheddar baked biscuits, but it’s working.”
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On a more serious note, he added that working at both restaurants taught him the value of hard work and that “if you trust a plan, great things can happen.”
While Majors found success in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, his career slowed down when he was convicted of two misdemeanor counts — reckless assault in the third degree and harassment — in December 2023, following an altercation with his girlfriend in March 2023.
Jamie Kennedy loved his time working at Red Lobster.
During an interview on “The Jason Show” in June 2024, Kennedy said he started working at the chain restaurant because his mom thought it would be good for him.
“It was my first job ever. My mother’s like, ‘You got to learn about life so go to Red Lobster,’” he said. “I got a job there when I was 16, and then I loved it so much that when I moved to L.A. to pursue my dream, I got a transfer. I got recommended as a busboy to the North Hollywood location because I was such a good busboy at the Philly one. So I worked there.”
He ultimately found success as an actor playing Randy Meeks in the 1996 movie “Scream,” and went on to have a successful movie and television career.
